The Time Between
by sapphire-child
Summary: Did Charlie and Claire actually spend a whole two days together during 1x08? See the summary inside for a more detailed explanation.
1. Part One

Title: Confidence Man – The Time Between (Part One)  
Original post date: 21st February 2006  
Spoilers: 1x08 Confidence Man  
Summary/Authors Note: So I was re-watching Confidence Man a while ago now when I suddenly realised that between the first Charlie/Claire scene (where he brings her water) and the next (where they're hanging out her washing) there's a scene at the caves, (the one where Jack punches Sawyer to try and get Shannon's inhalers back) which is at night time. Therefore, shouldn't that mean that Charlie spends not only a day but also a night on the beach with Claire? And then they hang out washing the _following_ day? The only excuse I can come up with to discredit this is that they jumped around with the time so that all the C/C scenes weren't all clustered together which is just stupid and screws up the whole time distribution for the episode anyway. So this is my spin on the time between those two C/C scenes in 1x08 and I hope you enjoy!  
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah I know, it's not mine.

* * *

'When we get rescued,' Charlie echoed, looking dubious. 'Right.'

Claire looked down at her hands, resting lightly on her swollen belly as the full implication of his words made their impact on her and a rather awkward silence stretched between the two of them. Why did all their conversations seem to come to a standstill like this?

'So what have you been doing with yourself the past few days anyway?' Charlie said suddenly, fidgeting. 'It's been a while since I saw you.'

Claire rested her hands more comfortably on her belly; glad Charlie had broken the silence. He was right, it _had_ been a while since they'd seen each other. She'd missed his company since he'd moved up to the caves; he was the only one who had really talked to her. Hurley had disappeared up to the caves with Jack – not that he'd said much to her after the first few days anyway – and Kate always seemed to be off doing something else.

So Claire had wiled away the hours writing in her journal or wandering the shore, loneliness causing her to talk more and more to her baby – something that wasn't unusual in pregnant women but probably not to the extent she had been doing it lately. Charlie's appearance of only a few minutes ago had been a most welcome surprise indeed.

'Not a lot,' she admitted, wriggling her toes in her shoes and wincing at the scrape of sand. Her shoes were absolutely _full_ of holes, and had steadily filled with sand as the days passed. 'I've just been walking around and writing in my diary a lot. Nobody really talks to me so...' she trailed off feeling a little embarrassed. It sounded like she was trying to make Charlie feel guilty for not being around to talk to her...

'Rotten sods!' Charlie shook his head indignantly and Claire laughed out loud, any prior awkwardness swept away. Charlie grinned, but then he sobered slightly and looked earnestly at her. 'Sorry I haven't been around recently. I've been up at the caves a lot and it's a fair hike there and back again.'

'And yet you're here now,' Claire said teasingly, as she leant over awkwardly to untie her shoelaces. 'Why is that?'

'Probably because I missed having somebody around I could have an actual conversation with,' Charlie grinned at her as she struggled to lean over her pregnant bulk to untie her shoes. 'And I still haven't forgotten what happened the last time you ran out of water. Do you want a hand with those?' he indicated her shoes.

'Sure,' Claire sighed and allowed Charlie to loosen the laces enough for her to slip her feet out, exposing her sand encrusted socks. Claire felt herself flush a little as she realised, mortified, that they were a pair of Powerpuff Girls socks she had borrowed from a younger cousin a long time ago and never had a chance to give back.

Charlie smirked. 'Cute socks.'

'Oh be quiet you,' Claire pulled one off and hit him on the shoulder with it. 'They were the only ones I could find that I hadn't packed.' They both regarded her pale feet for a quiet moment but Charlie continued to shift restlessly beside her and Claire glanced back up at him, bemused.

'Do you want to go for a walk or something?' she asked, trying not to laugh. 'You seem very fidgety today...'

'Oh it's just the sand fleas,' Charlie said a little too quickly. 'But I'll go for a walk all the same. Maybe we could hang out today…' he paused to gauge Claire's reaction. '…Or something…?'

Claire nodded, feeling a little shy but pleased. She didn't really know Charlie that well but he'd been so nice to her when she'd fainted the other day. _And_, she reasoned, having some company wouldn't be bad. It wouldn't be bad at all.

'I'd like that,' she smiled genially at him and then tried to stand up.

'Whoa, wait a second, here…' Charlie leapt to his feet and offered her his hands, which she gratefully took. Charlie helped her haul herself to her feet. 'There you go.'

'It seems to get harder to get up every time I sit down,' Claire laughed a little and put a hand to the small of her back as Charlie hid the water bottles from anybody who might filch them while they were gone. Claire directed their walk down towards the water and Charlie trudged through the sand by her side.

'Mmmn. Your stomach seems to be bigger every time I see it,' he offered in answer, eyes twinkling.

'Oh I know!' Claire clasped her hands around her enlarged stomach with some difficulty, hugging her baby. 'And I've _still_ got another month to go yet so I'm probably going to get bigger yet…' at this, Charlie's smile faltered a little and Claire peered at him. 'What's wrong Charlie?'

'Oh,' he glanced away, scratching his ear. 'It's nothing. I just…'

'Do you think…' Claire paused delicately. 'That they're not going to rescue us?'

Charlie hesitated before answering. 'Well it's just that it might take them a _while_ to find us is all. I mean, we are in the middle of nowhere and all…'

Claire didn't answer him. They continued to tread softly through the increasingly damp sand, Charlie continuing to mutter, almost to himself.

'I mean what if they don't come for say, another week? Or another two weeks?'

'Well so what if they do?' Claire asked. 'As long as I get to a hospital in time to give birth I'll be happy!' she laughed a little, hoping to ease the tension and was pleased when Charlie smiled, if a little weakly.

'I'm sure you'll be at a hospital by then love,' he said reassuringly. Claire was silent as they continued to plod along but then she saw his eyebrows knit together as he stole a coveted sideways glance at her belly. _Is he worried about the baby?_ She peered pointedly at him and after a moment he returned her gaze.

'What?'

'You were staring at my tummy,'

Charlie tried hard not to colour but all too soon his cheeks were flaming. He was glad for his scrubby beard covering the worst of the embarrassment. 'Sorry. I've never really been around anyone so…well _pregnant_ before.' he scratched his ear again, still looking slightly embarrassed. 'And I'd hate for anything to happen to either of you.'

Claire laughed. 'You don't have to be sorry for being worried Charlie. I think its sweet.'

'You do?' Charlie perked up.

'Yes,' Claire grinned at him. 'I do. It's nice to know that there's somebody here who actually cares whether or not we're okay.'

Charlie seemed to cheer up quite a bit after that and the two of them walked for a long time, back and forth along the beach, just out of reach of the waves. They were just on their way back up the beach for some water when a wave suddenly chased up the sand and hooked the two of them around the ankles. Claire lost her balance and for one horrible moment she nearly fell but then Charlie's hand flashed out and grabbed her elbow, steadying her.

Glancing up at him, a little surprised at the quickness of his reflexes, Claire couldn't help but smile her thanks. A moment later she began to laugh as the water began to tickle at her ankles. Charlie joined in with her laughter as a second wave rushed all the way up around their knees. They staggered together as it washed back out again, holding each other around the elbows so they didn't fall.

Once the wave had receded Charlie stared down at his soaked-to-the-knees jeans and waterlogged Vans then back up at Claire and quickly took his hand from her arm, obviously afraid that he may have overstepped some sort of boundary. Claire only laughed again and tugged his sleeve to get him moving back up the beach again.

'Come on. Let's go get a drink and put your shoes somewhere to dry.'

* * *

Once Charlie's Vans had been placed in the sun to dry and they had re-hydrated themselves, Claire felt the need to wander down the beach and collect shells. Of course, her limited mobility meant that Charlie was the one who did most of the work, chasing after shells like a mad thing as the tide pulled them back out to sea whilst Claire collected them in her hat.

Just before midday they retired to her shelter, a few pieces of wreckage linked by a flimsy tarpaulin, a washing line and boasting two of the airplanes seats.

'I love what you've done with the place,' Charlie glanced around and patted the curving wall of one of the engines. 'How'd you manage all of this?'

'Oh,' Claire pushed a strand of unruly blonde hair behind her ear and then began to explain, a little falteringly. 'Well…there were some other people here before…they did most of this…and I asked if I could share with them and they said I could…but then they kind of left one day and…well they've made themselves better shelters I guess because they never came back.'

Charlie glanced at his hand, twitching against the engine shell and shoved it into his pocket, flexing his fingers nervously. 'Oh.'

Claire frowned to herself for a moment as if puzzling over why the other people would have vacated right after she'd shown up asking to share with them but then she smiled blankly at him and sat down and Charlie joined her, glad to be moving on from the previous conversation.

Together they huddled in the shade, drawing patterns in the sand as they chatted idly and sipped at their precious supply of water. Charlie dotted his pictures with the shells they'd found and then tried to throw them back into the waves from where they were sitting.

'Don't do that,' Claire protested, laughing. 'After we spent so long collecting them all…'

'Shells are meant to be in the ocean love,' Charlie shrugged. 'It's where they came from and where they belong.' He idly picked up a palm full of them, picking out a smooth white one and handing it to her. 'Here, look – it's a Claire shell. What do you think?'

Claire turned it over in her fingers, smiling. 'It's lovely.'

'There might be a Charlie shell in here somewhere too if we're lucky…' he began to paw through their somewhat diminished collection and after a moment, pulled one out triumphantly. 'Aha! Here we go…'

Claire took the shell he offered her and felt her brow furrow in amusement. The shell was, as shells go, quite ugly. It was the kind that swirled into a perfectly flawless spiral, flecked in browns and whites. She ran a curious fingertip across the bumps and nobbles on its surface and then laid it on her palm.

'What do you reckon?' Charlie peered thoughtfully at the two shells, one in each of Claire's palms. He pointed at the brown one. 'That ones definitely me. It's certainly ugly enough.'

'The outside of it's not that pretty,' Claire agreed and then turned it over so that he could see the pearlescent shimmer inside. 'But take a look at the inside.'

A grin touched at the corners of his mouth. 'Are you agreeing that I'm ugly?'

Claire flushed furiously. 'Of course not!'

'Well at least the insides not so bad,' Charlie admonished, sweeping a hand across the sand to erase his drawings and pushing the remaining shells away. He smiled as Claire curled her fingers over the two shells and then leant back against a cushion. 'You look tired love.'

'Mmmn,' Claire folded her hands comfortably on her belly. 'I am a bit. Carrying around an extra person can get pretty exhausting sometimes.'

Charlie nodded thoughtfully then glanced at his watch. Claire felt her stomach drop several notches. _Was he leaving already?_ She sat up a little straighter – she didn't really want him to leave, not when she was actually smiling and laughing for the first time in days.

'Well I shouldn't keep you awake if you want to nap,' Charlie said sagely. 'It's getting a bit late and I dunno 'bout you but I am absolutely _famished_.' He glanced up and down the beach then back to Claire. 'How about I see if I can't find something for us to chew on? You can stay here and have yourself a bit of a rest – no sense in you exhausting yourself anymore yeah?'

'Would you?' Claire said, more than a little dumbfounded. 'Would you really?'

'Yeah, course,' Charlie shrugged like it was the most natural thing in the world to trot off to find some lunch for someone he'd barely known for more than a fortnight. 'Like I said, we can't have you tiring yourself out. You just relax a minute yeah? I'll be back soon…'

He was on his feet in an instant and walking away before Claire had managed to master the power of speech again. 'Charlie…' he turned back, a look of questioning puzzlement on his face.

'Yes love?'

For a moment Claire considered blurting out the bubbling stream of consciousness she was currently having, that she was enjoying his company so much, that she was so pleased to have found someone to talk to…

But why on earth was he being so nice to her when everyone else had done their best to ignore her?

Instead she kept it simple.

'Thank you,'

Charlie grinned.

'No problems. You just hang in there okay? Have yourself a bit of a siesta. I'll see what I can't find in the way of food.'

As he padded off, Claire leant back against her cushions and sighed, closing her eyes. She tried so hard to keep a positive outlook but now, after Thomas, there was always, _always_ that niggling voice at the back of her head saying _what does he want? Why is he talking to me? Why is he being nice to me?_ It wasn't that she thought he was after her for sex (she felt far too pregnant for that now anyway) and he hadn't been anything other than friendly and considerate and genuinely concerned for her wellbeing – as well as the wellbeing of her baby.

As Claire mused to herself, one of the other survivors walked past, a woman, not really much older than Claire herself really. Claire smiled brightly at her, hoping to get one in return but the woman only looked uncomfortable for a moment, gave her a timid, half smile that didn't reach her eyes and then hurried away.

Claire felt like she'd been slapped. A hiccoughing sob worked its way up her throat but she swallowed it back down again swiftly. Crying wouldn't solve anything she told herself but nevertheless, she felt several tears push over he lower lids. She wiped them away angrily and, trying not to feel too wretched, she turned as far onto her side as her pregnant bulk would allow and curled up in the relative cool, determined to sleep her worries away – at least until Charlie got back.

* * *

'Oh!'

Charlie glanced up at Claire, surprised out of a rather long and rambling narrative about his intense dislike of seagulls to find Claire, pale-faced and biting her lip, one hand on her stomach, the other holding her half eaten banana.

'Claire?' Charlie leant forward a little, frowning as she shut her eyes and took several slow, deep breaths. 'What's wrong?'

Her eyes opened again and for a moment she stared through Charlie as though he wasn't even there but then she smiled again and Charlie calmed down considerably.

'It's just a contraction – a small one. They kind of happen sometimes.'

'That's when the muscles all tense up isn't it?' Charlie guessed and Claire nodded, still staring at her stomach as she ran her hand over the full swell of it. 'You're not going to go into labour on me are you?'

Claire looked up quickly and laughed. 'No! Not just yet anyway. I've still got a month or so to go, and like I said, contractions just kind of happen sometimes…oh it's woken him up now…'

'Him?'

Claire looked up from her stomach. 'What? Oh!' her eyes and smile grew wider. 'I never told you did I?'

Charlie smiled at her amusedly. 'Told me what?'

Claire sat back, smiling contentedly as a cat, her hands still on her belly. 'I think it's going to be a boy.'

Charlie blinked. Several times. 'Okay. And how do you know that?'

'I don't,' Claire shook her head and her eyes went down again. 'I just kind of…know.'

'Well you'd know best I suppose,' Charlie shuffled himself around to get comfortable but couldn't help but notice her hand, rubbing that same spot on her stomach. 'Is he still moving about then?'

'A bit,' Claire rolled her eyes. 'He moves around quite a bit actually, it's very distracting when you're trying to have a conversation and you've got this _thing_ swimming about inside you.'

Charlie laughed out loud and then tentatively extended a hand.

'Can I…? I mean, I've never…what does it feel like?'

Claire barely even hesitated before taking his hand gently and guiding it to her baby's foot. Charlie seemed very reluctant to touch her too much, preferring to touch just his fingertips to her stomach, but as he did so, the baby inside moved quite suddenly and he nearly leapt out of his skin. 'Bloody hell!' Claire giggled as he snatched his hand away. 'I felt it move!' he gabbled, amazement etched in every feature of his face. 'Right under my fingers!'

'Yeah,' Claire tried not to sound condescending. 'Babies will do that Charlie.'

Charlie eyed her stomach warily. 'I don't know if I want to touch it again…that's really…it's not…I mean, that's not how I imagined it'd feel.'

'Well what were you expecting it to feel?' Claire said, amused.

'I dunno,' Charlie frowned but his mouth was curved into the slightest of smiles. 'Just not like _that.'_

Claire grinned at him then just as suddenly bit her lip as another contraction hit her. She sucked in a sharp breath and frowned deeply.

_God…there's not usually this many in a row…what if I do end up going into labour here? And with Jack up at the caves…_

Claire shut her eyes hurriedly and concentrated on her breathing – she was barely aware of Charlie's worried voice until she felt his hand barely brushing her own, the one that was clenching and unclenching the towel beneath her.

'Do you want me to get help?'

Claire shook her head quite firmly and then after a moment, opened her eyes. Charlie was looking more worried than ever and Claire felt a twinge of guilt at having made him so anxious. She smiled encouragingly at him, hoping the anxious look on his face would dissipate.

She'd had contractions in the last week or so of course, but only small ones. Even so, she'd not had anyone there to help her through those and she was grateful for the comforting warmth of Charlie's hand on hers now – even though under normal circumstances she probably wouldn't have felt as comfortable with it.

Charlie smiled back at her, if a little nervously, and patted her hand gently. It wasn't until five minutes had elapsed after her contractions had stopped that he finally deemed the situation safe enough to run off into the jungle for a few minutes to go to the loo.

While he was gone, Claire nestled herself more comfortably away from the late afternoon sun and pulled her diary out of her bag. Having grown bored of its company – and having had Charlie to substitute as a conversation partner today – Claire was surprised at herself as she flipped the small book open to the most recent entries and put pen to paper.

Obviously she had something she wanted to say.

_Today I realized I really like Charlie._

_There's something about him that's _

_just so adorable. and sweet _

_Even in a scary place like this _

_Charlie makes me feel safe._


	2. Part Two

Title: Confidence Man – The Time Between (Part Two)  
Original post date: 24th February 2006  
Spoilers: 1x08 Confidence Man  
Summary: A follow up to Part One. We left off at Claire's famous diary entry so now we finally get to see what happened between there and the advent of the washing scene the next morning!  
Disclaimer: Well obviously the Lost stuff isn't mine, so just so you know; the song that Charlie sings is called "Sleeping To Dream" by Jason Mraz.

* * *

It wasn't until the fires were being lit that they realised just how late it was actually getting.

'Hey,' the two of them glanced up at one of the other survivors – an older man they both knew by face but not by name. 'D'you two want to come sit at the fire for a while? It's getting pretty chilly.'

He gestured at a fire not more than ten metres away where a small group of castaways were huddling up together. Claire eyed them for a moment, noticing the way that they had deftly filled in all the gaps in the circle but then shook her head and smiled apologetically. 'Oh…no thanks. I'm not really that cold.'

The man looked pointedly at Charlie, who stared determinedly at his fingernails. 'If you want to go sit with them that's okay,' Claire said selflessly. Charlie merely shrugged.

The guy shrugged back. 'Okay. Well if you guys get cold...' He left it hanging as he crunched away through the sand and joined the circle. Claire glanced over at him and the others and sighed.

She knew a clique when she saw one.

'You know, you really don't have to stay,' Claire said to Charlie as she began to paw through her bag for a jumper – and maybe a pair of track pants as well she thought grimly as a sudden breeze rushed up the beach, catching her long hair and tangling it like so many golden threads. 'If you want to go and sit with them…'

Charlie actually snorted and then gestured over at the circle around the fire. 'Oh yeah. Does it look like they want any more company? They're probably all Yanks as well – you know you're the only person I've met here who isn't from the States? Well apart from Sayid…' Charlie slapped at a mosquito and then glanced around to make sure there weren't any more nearby.

'Well I thought I was the only one for a while,' Claire said as she pulled a jumper over her head and then tugged it over her belly. 'Where do you reckon Sayid's from? I think he said he was from Iraq but I'm not really sure…'

Charlie, however didn't seem to be paying her much attention, he was looking up at the darkening sky and frowning to himself, mouth working as though he wanted to say something. Claire trailed off awkwardly, her hands frozen in their search for a pair of pants.

'I didn't realise how late it was getting…' Charlie glanced down at his watch and frowned heavily. 'If I wanted to get back to the caves I should have left here a couple of hours ago.' He scratched his head, not looking at Claire. 'And I don't really want to go tromping through the jungle at night with that _thing_ on the loose…but it's not like I can really stay here…'

'Of course you can stay here!' Claire said immediately, pleased, but her smile faltered as quickly as it had brightened her face. 'I mean, only if you want to – you _have _been with me all day…I mean, if you _want_ to go to the caves I'll understand…I'd like the company. If you'd _like_ to stay here with me…'

Charlie grinned at her. 'You realise you're babbling don't you?'

Claire ran a flustered hand through her tangled hair. 'Sorry. It's just I haven't had anyone to talk to in a few days now and I guess I'm actually being a bit selfish, asking you to stay here with me when…'

'That's bollocks,' Charlie waved a dismissive hand. 'You're the only person I've actually had a decent conversation with in this god forsaken place so far, so I don't see much point in leaving – if you don't mind me staying that is?'

Claire felt herself smile. 'Of course I don't mind.'

'Oh good,' Charlie looked relieved. 'I thought you were going to tell me to sod off for a second there and then I'd have to go make polite conversation with all those bloody Yanks over there.'

Claire giggled and began to wriggle into her blue track pants as Charlie flopped down on his back, hands folded behind his head. Once she'd done up the drawstring, she glanced back over at Charlie who appeared to be gazing at the emerging stars.

'Are you cold?' she asked as she leant back against her cushion, gazing not at the stars but at Charlie's face – half obscured by shadows now. He blinked several times, quite slowly and she wondered if he had even heard her, but then he was answering and she had to catch herself to actually hear what he was saying.

'I'm good thanks,' he was murmuring vaguely. 'I'm pretty good with the cold. It's the heat and humidity I can't hack.'

'Must suck for you being here,' Claire leant forward again and began to wriggle out of her black skirt – there wasn't much point in layering, it would only be uncomfortable to sleep in – and it would mean that she could finally sleep as comfortably as she wanted to without worrying about whether somebody was going to look up her skirt while she was sleeping.

Not that there were many people who would do that here.

Well…she wouldn't put it past Sawyer.

'Mmmn,' Charlie agreed and shuffled himself around a bit more, sighing as he tried to find a more comfortable patch of sand. Claire offered him a cushion and towel to lie on and he gratefully took both, stretching out and propping his head up on the cushion. 'Ta love. I guess there are worse places I could be.'

He fell silent, obviously into his own private musings and Claire looked up to the oh-so familiar constellations that he was scrutinising. She didn't feel awkward in his silence exactly, but she certainly didn't feel quite comfortable with it yet.

He had a habit, she had noticed, of going off into his own head with no prior warning and then coming back to reality just as quickly. It was a little unnerving, even though Thomas had done it too from time to time – being an artist he got distracted easily and she had often teased him about how serious he looked when he concentrated. But then Thomas's silences had never felt quite as intense to her as the ones that Charlie seemed to fall into.

Or maybe she just wasn't used to them yet.

She glanced a little nervously from the stars back to Charlie's face and found herself wondering what his star sign might be. She hadn't asked him yet – partly because she hadn't been able to pick it herself and partly because she wasn't quite game to. At least not after the look Kate had given her when she'd offered to do her chart the previous week.

'Do you know anything about the stars Charlie?' she asked tentatively.

Charlie chuckled lightly. 'Not really. Well, you know, apart from the fact that they're huge balls of burning gas millions of light years away.'

'I didn't mean that,' Claire blushed a little. 'I meant like, what they mean. Like star signs and stuff.'

'What, Astronomy?'

'Astrology,' Claire corrected him, giggling. 'And I'll take that as a no?'

'Yeah. No I don't know much about that stuff,' he turned his head so that he could look up at her and grinned. 'It's not like I ever really read the star signs in the paper or anything. My brother would have said that…' he broke off quite suddenly, fumbled with his words for a moment and then changed the subject. Claire noticed but didn't push the matter. If Charlie wanted to pour out his soul she would listen – up to a point – but he was more than entitled to keep some of his secrets to himself. They'd only just met a week or so ago now for Chrissakes! 'Well I was brought up in a churchy sort of house anyway,' Charlie continued. 'So…well, there wasn't ever anything like the feng-shui-star-sign-bonsai-tree type stuff around when I was growing up.'

'So…you're religious then?' Claire was a little surprised at this. She never really thought about a person's religion when she first met them but she'd known people in the past who couldn't even hold an ordinary conversation without mentioning their faith. She herself had never been to church or been baptised and she'd never really minded either come to think of it.

'Well…not so much anymore,' Charlie amended and Claire felt slightly better. 'But I used to be.'

_Used to be._

Claire shivered as another gust of wind played hide and seek around her shelter making the tarpaulin overhead flap and snap in the wind. She huddled down until she was lying on her side – the weight of her baby was beginning to press uncomfortably into her abdomen. Propping herself up against her cushion, Claire directed her attention to Charlie who turned his head towards her. She regarded him solemnly for a moment and he raised an eyebrow.

'What?'

'What did you do in the real world Charlie?'

Charlie blinked foolishly but then rolled onto his side as well, propped himself up on his elbow and began to fiddle with the ring on his right hand.

'I was…well…I was sort of…in a band.'

'A band?' Claire repeated. Charlie nodded and Claire waited for more. When it didn't come she rolled her eyes. 'Well what sort of a band was it?'

'Just a band,' Charlie said evasively and then added, hesitantly, 'My brother and I, we started it when we were in our teens. I kind of went from job to job for a few years but eventually we got a bit of a break, we made a few records and then the band split up – like most do. Not really a lot to tell.'

Claire could tell from the tone in his voice that this was all she was going to get on the matter but she tried to poke him along anyway.

'Did you go on tour?'

'Mmmn. All over the world.' Charlie pulled off the ring he'd been toying with and held it out to her. 'Here. Second tour of Finland.' Claire squinted at the initials on the ring in the fading light. 'We got these made especially.'

'DS.' Claire read then glanced up at Charlie. 'What's it stand for?'

'Name of the band. Drive Shaft.'

Claire laughed out loud. 'Phallic much?'

Charlie grinned at her. 'I'll have you know that I didn't come up with the name. I just wrote the songs and sang back up.'

Claire laughed and handed the ring back. As Charlie pushed it back onto his finger she looked for something else to say. 'So you write music as well?' she continued.

'Mmmn,' Charlie smiled reminiscently and then he half sat up, excited. 'Actually, my guitar is up at the caves! I thought it would have gotten smashed up in the crash but Locke found it for me, still in the case! All in one piece and playable and everything!'

'Really? You'll have to play for me sometime,' Claire brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and grinned shyly. 'Or maybe you could even teach me to play sometime? I always wanted to learn the guitar…'

'Probably not the best time to start teaching you at the moment,' Charlie said, his eyes teasing. 'It'd be a bit hard to hold a guitar properly with that huge lump out the front of you.'

Claire giggled and shuffled her weight so that she was a little more comfortable. 'Good point,' she amended as, opposite her, Charlie settled himself down a bit more comfortably as well.

Claire jumped a little when his knee touched hers quite suddenly – but then she wondered if he'd done it on purpose. His face was almost concealed by darkness now and from what she could see, it showed no signs that he was angling for anything anyway so she put it down to incident and decided to just leave it instead of making a fuss. Maybe he couldn't feel it through his jeans?

'And what about you?' Charlie asked as the last of the day's light faded into the blackness of the sea. 'We've done all this talking about me and you haven't told me what you did before you ended up in this horrible place.'

'Well I wasn't famous or anything,' Claire said and Charlie barked out a laugh. 'I actually worked in a fish and chips shop and then…well then I got pregnant and that was the end of that.'

Charlie nodded and then asked hesitantly, 'The father – is he still back in Australia?'

Claire paused before answering. 'Yes. He is.'

Charlie didn't ask any more questions after that. Instead, he settled his head down onto his arm and blinked at her. Claire mirrored him and the two of them lay there quite silently for a long time. It was the closest Claire had slept to anyone in ages. The warmth of Charlie's denim-clad knee against hers was a constant reminder that she wasn't sleeping alone for once, even when she closed her eyes...

When she opened them again, the moon had fully risen and Charlie was breathing softly beside her. She shivered violently and realised that the reason she had woken in the first place was that she was practically frozen solid.

She sat up stiffly and glanced over her shoulder. The beach was dark but for the silvery moonlight and the main signal fire which somebody seemed to be stoking. She fumbled about in the shadows to find her blanket and then reached over to poke Charlie in the shoulder.

'Are you awake?'

Charlie mumbled something incomprehensible as his eyes opened blearily. It took him a moment before he seemed to register who it was. 'Claire? S'matter?'

'I'm freezing my bum off out here so I'm going to go and sleep under there,' she indicated the other piece of wreckage which made up her shelter. She guessed that it had been a part of one of the engines as well but in any case, it formed a perfect arch over the sand and it would hopefully hold some heat.

Charlie lifted his head, glanced over at it and nodded, almost imperceptibly in the darkness. ''kay. I'll sleep out here and hope that a boar doesn't come and eat me.'

Claire laughed quietly but then she sobered considerably. 'Are you going to be warm enough?' she whispered. 'Do you want a blanket or anything?'

Charlie gave an affirmative grunt. 'Yeah. S'pose I could cope with something along those lines.'

Claire handed him several towels she had filched from various bags. 'Here. It's not exactly duck down but it's better than nothing.'

'Ta,' Charlie murmured and without even sitting up, dragged the towels over himself to promote some semblance of warmth as Claire hovered, feeling slightly guilty for not having anything better to offer him.

'Are you sure you're warm enough?'

Charlie waved a hand dismissively. 'S'fine Claire. I'm a Brit, 'member? 'm used to the cold.'

'Right,' Claire hesitated for a moment, one hand on the cold metal of the engine shell she was about to climb under. 'Well I'll see you in the morning I guess.'

'Mmmn. Sleep sweet,' Charlie murmured and as Claire crawled underneath the curved wall of metal and curled up in her blanket she heard him begin to sing softly to himself.

'Sleepin' t' dream bout you…an' I'm so tired. 'm having to live w'out you, but I dun mind. Sleepin' t' dream bout you…I'm so tired…'

Charlie's voice trailed off into a sleepy sigh and Claire smiled into the darkness and shook her head before settling back down for sleep.

_

* * *

I had that weird dream again – the one with the Black Rock I can't get away from. I tried to leave it, but it won't let me…_

'Morning!'

Claire nearly leapt out of her skin as she slammed her diary shut and turned her head to the source of the cheerful voice. She was feeling on edge this morning, ever since she'd woken up from that stupid dream. She hadn't even been able to get back to sleep again and had instead gotten up and gotten dressed, changing into her pink singlet only to pull her black one back over the top so that the pink checks wouldn't accentuate just how large her stomach was getting.

She'd hoped that getting dressed, maybe going for a walk along the beach would lift the foreshadowing of the dream from her mind but no such luck. With Charlie asleep she had turned to the only thing she knew would possibly help her to put the dream behind her.

Her diary.

'Bloody hell!' She shot Charlie a reproachful look then made a big fuss over putting her diary back into her bag. 'Don't sneak up on me like that Charlie!'

Charlie's eyebrows shot up at her reprimand but then he eased himself down next to her anyway. 'Sorry. Did you sleep badly last night or something?'

Claire sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. 'Sorry. It's nothing. Just this stupid recurring dream I've been having. It doesn't mean anything.'

Charlie nodded then looked down at his hands, inspecting his fingernails intently.

Claire began to feel slightly guilty. He was only trying to be nice. 'I'm sorry I snapped at you.' She apologised. Charlie glanced up at her and smiled gently.

'That's all right. You're not much of a morning person I gather?'

'Not today,' Claire admitted and Charlie grinned at her.

'Well never mind. Did you still want me to hang around today or are you starting to get sick of me?'

'Oh no, I've got no intention of letting you disappear,' Claire grinned at him. 'I need your help with something.'

'Oh really? And what kind of a something are we talking about?' Charlie narrowed his eyes and leant forward to whisper conspirationally to her. 'Because if you say "pregnant yoga"? I'm out of here.'

Claire stared at him and Charlie's face split into a grin. 'Kidding love. I'm only kidding.'

'I never even _did_ pregnant yoga,' Claire informed him primly. 'And for your information I was _going_ to ask you if you'd help me with my washing…'

'Oh so you want me to play house with you?' Charlie frowned musingly. 'I don't think I've ever played house before – I always pretended I was a famous musician when I was little.'

'Oh ha, ha,' Claire tried to push the conversation back on track. 'Will you help me with my washing or not? It's just I'm not really that mobile at the moment…'

Charlie rubbed his chin, pretending to consider her offer. 'Well…I've got two options here. I can either go back to the caves with Jack and all the other pessimists up there or I can stay here and play house with you. Hmmn…it's a tough call…'

Claire waited, trying not to smile.

Charlie nodded thoughtfully. 'Yeah…I think I'm going to have to stay and play house today.'

'Well I suppose I'd better get up then,' Claire started to push herself up, waving Charlies hand away. 'I'm okay Charlie. Thanks.'

'Just making sure,' he said a little defensively then added sheepishly, 'I just didn't want you to yell at me again.'

Charlie dumped several brightly coloured tops into the broken suitcase lid they were substituting as a laundry basket and dusted his hands off whilst Claire searched through her bag for a hair-tie. 'Is that everything then?' he stared at the odd assortment of clothes they had jumbled together.

Claire pushed a strand of hair back from her face and pulled a pink singlet strap back up onto her shoulder as she rummaged through her bag determinedly. '…I swear I put some lackies in here – yeah I think that's it now…just wait…aha!' Claire pulled forth a black hair elastic and held it up triumphantly. 'Just give me a second so I can tie my hair up…oh I don't suppose you could help me fix this strap could you?' Claire indicated the left strap of her pink singlet, which had somehow loosened and was now sliding off her shoulder at every opportunity. 'I can't reach the buckle thingy…'

Charlie's thin fingers were at her shoulder in an instant, expertly pulling the straps and fastenings as though he'd done it a million times before. Claire glanced over her shoulder at him, grinning bemusedly.

'Have you done this before?'

Charlie smiled, eyes still on her shoulder.

'Maybe once or twice.'

'Girlfriend?' Claire guessed.

'Me mum.'

Claire burst out laughing.

_This_ was why she liked Charlie's company so much more than anyone else's on the island – he made her smile. Last nights nightmares and tomorrows worries seemed further away when she was with him – and it felt good to be able to have a conversation without it being punctuated by constant references to her baby. He hadn't mentioned the baby at all since she'd asked him to teach her to play his guitar and he'd pointed out that she was too pregnant – and yet she didn't feel like he was avoiding the subject or that he'd forgotten that there was a growing person inside her. His eyes were constantly darting to her stomach and then he'd sort of nod and continue on with whatever he'd been doing. It made her feel safer somehow.

And yet…nearly everyone else Claire had talked to over the past fortnight had seen her pregnant bulk and gently stepped away. She supposed they didn't want to be responsible for her and her baby and all the duty that came with it. Everyone seemed to see her as "the pregnant girl". But then Charlie – Charlie had seen her as _Claire_, asked her how _she_ was doing and _then_ acknowledged her pregnancy. It felt good to be noticed again, not as a pregnant person but as a person who just so happened to be pregnant.

'There,' Charlie crawled back next to her as she retrieved her hat. 'Are you ready to go do some of this washing then?'

Claire pulled her hair to the nape of her neck and twisted her hair elastic around it, jamming her hat on top. She tweaked the brim at Charlie and grinned widely, pleased at having finally gotten over her doubts – she'd found a friend.

'Absolutely.'


End file.
